


I'm sorry but I don't have a choice

by WolfKomoki



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Earth-19, Earth-19 AU, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-24
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-19 13:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11898489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfKomoki/pseuds/WolfKomoki
Summary: Barry doesn't want to work with Cisco Ramon's Earth-37 doppelganger, but he has no choice. See, Earth-37 Reverb is smart, scarily smart. He knows which organs, and which parts of the body could kill someone. The other thing that he knows? Was how to mess with Barry’s vibrational frequency. To put it in a nutshell, he could have shattered Barry’s entire nervous system, or he could have destroyed his organs. As long as Earth-37 Reverb is alive, Barry has no choice but to work with him. He just hopes that Earth-1 can survive his wrath.





	1. Pilot, Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Before you get into this fic, you should know that it takes place in an alternate universe, on Earth-19. Much of the canon has been changed. If that kind of thing offends you, then don't read this fic. Also, The Flash is owned by The CW.

          Barry Allen’s childhood was normal. He had a mom, and a dad. He had a best friend, and he was happy. That all changed when he turned eleven. Little Barry woke to see the water in his fish tank floating in the air. In the background, he could hear yelling, and that’s when he decides to walk downstairs.

          “Nora! Nora!” Henry’s voice calls. He was sitting on the floor, and a trail of red and yellow lightning was twirling around him.

          “Dad! Dad!” Barry calls.

          “Barry, don’t!” His dad calls, motioning for him to stop.

          “Get back!” Henry warns.

          “Dad!” Little Barry calls, crying out in fear.

          “Dad!” He calls, sobbing now. Henry screams.

          “Dad!” Barry cries. Suddenly Nora was in front of her son.

          “Stay back!” She shouts.

          “Henry, hold on!” Nora pleads.

          “Run, Barry. Run!” Nora calls, pushing her son. Suddenly a figure dressed in red grabs Barry, running him out of the house faster than was humanly possible down the street.

          “Dad? Mom?” Little Barry calls, looking around in confusion. After that, he starts running back home. It was this night that Nora Allen was found in her house, holding a bloody knife that was used to stab Henry Allen in the heart. It was that day that Nora Allen was sent to prison, accused of murdering her husband in cold blood. Her son, Barry Allen, found his father’s corpse, lying in the very living room that he used to live in.

          That year Joe West and his wife Francine decided to take Barry in, as their foster child. When Barry was twelve, Francine developed a drug addiction. One night, Barry wakes up from a nightmare, going into her room where he finds her passed out on the bed, an empty pill bottle in her hand. Barry wakes Joe up, and that’s when she was rushed to the hospital. When Barry was a freshman in college, working on becoming a Forensic Scientist, he receives a call. Francine had MacGregor's Syndrome. Barry drops out of college immediately after that. He can’t get his mother out of prison, but he can be there for his dying foster mother.

          At that time, Barry’s foster brother Wally had started doing illegal drag races to help pay for Francine’s medical bills. Joe had joined up with a gang of criminals, who helped him go on heists to help pay for her bills. Barry felt helpless. He wasn’t a criminal, he can’t do anything but be there for her. He wants to help pay for her expenses, but he doesn’t have that kind of money. Years later, Francine was barely holding on. The doctors said that she only has a few months to live, at best. Barry needed a break. Tonight, the Star Labs particle accelerator turns on. Wally, Iris, and Barry decided to go to the park for a well needed break.

          “Wally, what is so important about this particle accelerator anyway?” Barry asks.

          “Randolf Morgan's work in quantum theory is light-years ahead of anything they're doing at Cern.” Wally smiles.

          “You're doing that thing where you're not speaking English.” Iris chuckles.

          “Yeah man, you know I don’t understand all that nerdy shit.” Barry agrees. Wally rolls his eyes.

          “Okay. Just imagine that that dot is everything the human race has ever learned until this moment.” Wally explains, drawing on the napkins.

          “Does that include twerking?” Iris chuckles.

          “That is, everything we could learn from the particle accelerator. It's a whole new way of looking at physics. It will literally change the way that we think about everything.” Wally explains.

          “No offense bro, but you have _got_ to get yourself a girlfriend.” Barry chuckles.

          “Hey, leave him alone, it’s his dream. His sad, little nerdy dream.” Iris chuckles.

          “Besides, I canceled a date for this.” She adds.

          “Well, we’d better go. This thing turns on in two hours, and I do not want to be stuck in line.” Barry states, paying for their food as Iris drives to Star Labs.

“Hey, no, I want food to take with us if we’re going to be camping out!” Wally protests. Suddenly they’re at the supermarket, grabbing pillows, blankets and food. Forty minutes later, they’re camped outside Star Labs, waiting for the lines to open. An hour later, the line is camped out to the end of the street.

          “Man, people really want to see your little nerdy device.” Barry chuckles. Wally holds up his middle finger. Finally, the lines start moving, and they all get up. Wally, Barry, and Iris got to stand in the front row. Soon, everyone starts cheering, and clapping.

          “Thank you. My name is Randolf Morgan. Tonight, the future begins. The work my team and I will do here will change our understanding of physics. We'll bring about advancements in power, advancements in medicine, and trust me, that future will be here faster than you think.” Randolf speaks into the microphone. Suddenly, it starts storming.

          “Not to worry folks, we are completely safe inside this building. The particle accelerator will still happen.” Randolf chuckles. Soon enough, the device turns on, and that’s when it all goes wrong. The device explodes, breaking the skylight as lightning crashes inside, striking several people, including Barry.

          “Barry! Oh my God!” Wally shrieks, running over to his brother.

          “Barry! Barry! Wake up, wake up man!” Wally shrieks, frantically shaking him. Suddenly, several ambulances showed up, rushing all the people that had been struck to the hospital. It was an hour later when Joe, Iris, and Wally arrive at the hospital. Slowly, Joe walks up to the front desk.

          “Excuse me, my son was rushed in here. His name is Barry Allen, can you tell me what room he’s in?” Joe asks.

          “He’s in the ICU. Room four.” The man at the desk states.

          “Can we see him?” Joe asks.

          “It’s family only. I’m sorry.” The man states. Joe growls at that statement.

          “Listen here, you racist piece of shit, if you don’t let me see my son, I’ll _sue_ you for everything you’re worth, you hear me?” Joe threatens.

          “Alright, alright, you can see him.” The man states. Everyone in the room clapped loudly at that statement.

  
  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Pilot, Part 2

          When they let Joe see Barry, he, Wally, and Iris slowly walk towards his room. Eventually they find it, and that’s when they walk in. When they see Barry, their hearts almost stopped. Barry was hooked up to God knows how many machines. When they walked in, the doctor that was examining him looked up.

          “You must be Barry’s family. Hi, I’m Doctor Williams.” A woman with black hair, and blue eyes greets. She was wearing the standard doctor’s uniform.

          “Can you tell us what’s wrong with him?” Joe asks.

          “Well, after he got struck by lightning, his heart stopped. We managed to get it beating again, but after that he slipped into a coma. I’m sorry.” The doctor explains.

          “I’ll leave you three alone.” She adds, leaving the room. Once she leaves the room, they all sit down next to Barry.

          “Hi Barry. It’s me, Wally, though I guess you already knew that. Look, I’m really hoping you can hear me, man.” Wally sighs.

          “They told us that you’re in a coma, can you believe that? We were having a nice day, and then Bam! You get struck by lightning!” Iris chuckles.

          “Look Barry, I know that the reason that you came to live with us was… awful, but Barry you made it a home again. You made us a family again. We need you, I need you. So, get better, okay? Wake up soon, _please_ son.” Joe speaks, his voice breaking. Soon enough, he’s sobbing. Wally just watches in silence, having no idea of what to say to his father. Nothing he can say will make this better, the only thing that will is Barry waking up. They decide to spend the night there, refusing to leave Barry’s side tonight. Three weeks pass since then, and Joe has refused to leave Barry’s side.

          “Dad, it’s been three weeks. You barely eat, or sleep.” Wally speaks, walking into the room with Iris.

          “Yeah, Dad. You should probably go home at some point.” Wally agrees.

          “Besides, you haven’t checked on mom in a while. I’m sure she’d appreciate a visit too.” Iris adds.

          “No. I’ll go home when Barry does.” Joe protests. Suddenly, Barry’s heart monitor flatlines, and he starts seizing.

          “Oh my God!” Wally gasps.

          “They said he was stable!” Iris gasps.

          “Help! My brother’s coding!” Wally shouts, running out into the hall.

          “They can’t save him.” A voice speaks, and that’s when Wally turns around. Randolf Morgan was standing there.

          “I know who you are. You're that scientist. The one that blew a hole in the city.” Wally states. Soon enough, Iris, and Joe join him in the hall.

          “Yes, I’m Randolf Morgan, and my facility is the very place I would like to take him.” Randolf speaks.

          “To Star Labs? You want to take my brother to the very place that caused his condition in the first place?” Wally scoffs.

          “Wally, hear him out.” Iris pleads.

          “Fine, talk.” Wally demands.

          “I'm not going to try and convince you with promises, but please, give me a chance.” Randolf pleads.

          “I think we already know what you're capable of. You hurt a lot of people that night.” Joe spats.

          “So those doctors in there, they're good enough? The best in the city, best in the country. Look at them. They have no clue what's going on. They're baffled, and the reason for that is what's happening inside Barry is a mystery, and they don't have the tools to solve it.” Randolf states.

          “And you do?” Wally asks.

          “That’s right. That's right. Millions of people used to look at my lab, and what did they see? They saw the future. Well, let me take that technology, let me take that know-how into ensuring that your son, and your brother has a future.” Randolf pleads.

          “Then save him.” Wally demands. That night, Barry Allen was transported to Star Labs. When Barry was brought in, Dante Ramon was the first one to see him.

          “Um Randolf? Who is this, and why was he brought here, to our medical lab?” Dante asks.

          “Well Mr. Ramon, this is Barry Allen. He got struck by lightning, and I promised his family that I’d save him.” Randolf answers. Slowly, HR Wells walks into the room, and that’s when he sees a total stranger in the med bay.

          “Hey Rando. Who’s this?” He asks.

          “This is Barry. He got struck by lightning, and we promised his family that we’d save him.” Dante answers.

          “Well then, we’d better get to work, eh Rando?” HR chuckles.

          “How many times do I have to tell you? My name is Randolf, not Rando.” Randolf sighs.

          “I know that, but that’s what I like to call you.” HR chuckles. Randolf rolls his eyes. Nine months have passed since then. Barry had already started to improve. He was breathing on his own now, so he didn’t need as many machines attached to him. Dante had decided to play a song on his phone.

          “ _I'm waking up to ash and dust_  
I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust  
I'm breathing in the chemicals

_I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus  
This is it, the apocalypse._ ” The phone plays.

          “What are you doing?” Randolf asks.

          “He likes this song.” Dante chuckles.

          “How can you possibly know that?” HR asks.

          “I checked his Facebook page. I mean, he can hear everything, right?” Dante asks.

          “Auditory functions are the last sensory faculties to degenerate.” Randolf answers.

          “ _I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus_  
This is it, the apocalypse  
Whoa oh” Dante starts to sing. Suddenly, Barry sits up, gasping for air.

          “Oh my God!” Dante gasps.

          “He’s up!” HR smiles.

          “Where am I?” Barry gasps, looking around in confusion.

          “Pulse 120, pupils equally reactive to light. Look at me, look at me.” Randolf states, shining a light in his eyes.

          “Hey, hey, whoa, whoa, relax. Look at him man, he’s scared. Back off!” Dante protests.

          “Alright, alright. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” Randolf apologizes. This didn’t seem to calm him down, however.

          “Hey, hey, whoa. Breathe, breathe alright? Everything’s okay man. You’re at Star Labs.” Dante tells him, gently pushing him back down on the bed.

          “Star Labs? What? Who are you people?” Barry asks.

          “I’m Dante Ramon, that’s Harrison Wells, though we call him HR. That’s Randolf Morgan.” Dante answers.

          “I need you to urinate in this.” Randolf states, holding up the pee cup.

          “Not right this second!” Dante snaps.

          “What is happening? What the hell is going on?” Barry demands.

          “Come here.” Dante speaks, sitting next to him.

          “You were struck by lightning.” Dante answers. Barry’s eyes widened in shock.

          “I was _what_?” He shrieks. Slowly, he looks at the camera.

          “Lightning… gave me abs?” He asks with confusion.

          “Your muscles should be atrophied, but instead they're in a chronic and an unexplained state of cellular regeneration.” Randolf explains. Barry didn’t understand a word of that.

          “Yeah, I didn’t understand a word of that. I need to get to my family. They’re probably worried sick.” Barry snaps.

          “Barry, stop.” Dante calls.

          “What?” Barry growls.

          “You’ve been in a coma. You can’t leave yet.” Dante informs.

          “What? For how long?” Barry asks.

          “Nine months. Welcome back Mr. Allen. We have a lot to discuss.” Randolf chuckles.

          “It’s hard to believe I’m here. I only came here because Wally wanted me to, and now I’m talking to his hero face to face.” Barry admits.

          “Well, your brother will certainly be jealous.” Dante chuckles.

          “So, what happened?” Barry asks, noticing how different the place looks.

          “Nine months ago, the particle accelerator went online exactly as planned. For forty-five minutes, I had achieved my life's dream, and then... Then there was an anomaly. The electron volts became immeasurable, the ring under us popped. The energy from that detonation was thrown into the sky and that, in turn, seeded a storm cloud...” Randolf explains, his voice trailing off.

          “That created a lightning bolt that struck me.” Barry realizes.

          “And several others.” Dante adds.

          “When I heard about you. The hospital was undergoing unexplainable power outages every time you were going into cardiac arrest, which was a misdiagnosis, because you see, you weren't flatlining, Barry. Your heartbeat was moving too fast for the EKG to register it. Now, I'm not the most popular person in town these days, but your brother, your sister, and your father gave me permission to bring you here, where we were able to stabilize you.” Randolf informs.

          “So, Wally agreed to this?” Barry asks.

          “He came to see you quite often. He talks a lot. Also, he’s hot.” Dante chuckles.

          “I need to go.” Barry states, taking off the equipment that was attached to him as he slowly stands up.

          “No, you can’t!” Randolf protests.

          “No, no. No, Rando’s right. Now that you’re awake, we need to do more tests.” HR agrees.

          “You're still going through changes. There's so much that we don't know.” Dante speaks, trying to get through to him.

          “So, you can treat me like a fucking lab rat? Thanks, but no thanks. _Thank you_ for saving my life, but I won’t become a damn lab rat.” Barry spats, running outside of the building. Soon enough, he calls for an uber, and that’s when he tells them to take him home.

          “Nice going _idiot_. Now he’s never going to come back.” Randolf sighs.

  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  
  
  


  
  


 

  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  
  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  


 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Radioactive is owned by Imagine Dragons.


	3. Pilot, Part 3

          When Barry walked through the door, Wally’s eyes widened in shock.

          “You’re awake! Why didn’t Star Labs call us?” He asks, running over to Barry.

          “I just woke up.” Barry chuckles.

          “Should… should you even be on your feet?” Wally asks with concern.

          “Wally, I’m okay.” Barry reminds him.

          “I watched you die, Barry. You kept dying. Your heart kept stopping.” Wally speaks, his voice breaking. Barry grabs his hand, and puts it on his heart.

          “Feel that? My heart is still beating. I’m okay Wally, I promise.” Barry tells him.

          “It feels fast. Oops.” Wally states, having knocked over the tea cup on the table. When the cup starts to fall, Barry sees everything start to slow down. Before the cup hits the ground, he grabs it by the handle, catching it before it falls.

          “Whoa! Nice reflexes!” Wally gasps. It was then that he sees the confused look on Barry’s face.

          “Dude, are you _sure_ you’re okay?” Wally asks.

          “Yeah, I’m fine, I’m just… still processing the fact that it’s nine months later.” Barry lies.

          “Oh. Man, dad and Iris are going to be _so happy_ to see you.” Wally smiles.

          “What about… Francine? Is she…” Barry’s voice trails off, afraid of the answer.

          “It’s… it’s not _good_ , man. They say she has a year to live, if we’re lucky.” Wally answers. Barry jumps when the front door slowly opens. When Iris, and Joe walk in to see Barry standing there, their eyes widened in shock.

          “Oh my God! Barry!” Iris gasps, running over to him.

          “Oh, you scared the hell out of us, kid.” Joe greets, pulling him in for a hug. It was then that he looks at every inch of his body.

          “You look okay. Are you really?” He asks.

          “Yeah, I’m fine. I am… a little hungry though.” Barry chuckles.

          “Well then, let’s fix that right now. What do you want? I’ll fix it.” Joe asks.

          “I don’t… what about grilled cheese?” Barry asks.

          “I can do that, for now, why don’t you sit?” Joe asks, walking into the kitchen. Barry nods as he sits on the couch. He thinks back to the tea cup. He must have imagined it falling in slow motion, there’s no way that that could have happened, and yet it did. He could catch it before it hit the ground. Barry looks up when Iris and Wally joins him on the couch.

          “I’m still having a hard time believing this, you know. I mean you just woke up, and now you’re home.” Wally chuckles.

          “Wait a minute. You _just now_ woke up?” Joe asks.

          “Yeah.” Barry answers.

          “How are you even on your feet right now?” Iris asks.

          “I don’t know! Can’t we just be thankful that I am?” Barry sighs.

          “I still think that you should have let the people at Star Labs look you over one more time.” Joe sighs.

          “Hell no! They want to treat me like a damn lab rat! I’m _never_ going back there.” Barry snaps.

          “Whoa, Whoa, what are you talking about? What did they do?” Wally asks.

          “Well the first thing that happened was that they were playing my favorite song. Then, when I woke up, that dumbass scientist shined a fucking _flashlight_ in my face, and then he wanted me to look at him after he fucking blinded me! Next, the dipshit shoves a damn _pee cup_ in my face, and tells me that he needs me to pee in it. Finally, when I tried to leave, they stopped me, stating that they wanted to do tests on me. I got out of there as fast as I could, before I became a human lab rat.” Barry explains, anger in his voice. Soon enough, Joe comes by with the food, and a drink, setting it on the table as he sits next to Barry.

          “I’m so sorry Barry. I didn’t want to send you there, but I knew that Randolf could save you, and I couldn’t live with myself if I said no.” Wally apologizes. Suddenly, for Barry, it clicks. What if he hadn’t imagined it? What if the reason that he saw the cup falling in slow motion, was because when he was in a coma, they had done experiments on him?

          “It’s okay Wally. You couldn’t have known.” Barry tells him, slowly biting into his sandwich. Soon enough, he was done eating.

          “Man, I was hungry. Guess being in a coma does that.” He chuckles.

          “I’m glad you’re okay, but I think you should sleep. We’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Joe demands.

          “But I need to see mom. I need to let her know that I’m awake.” Barry protests.

          “Look Barry, I’ll take you to see Nora tomorrow, but for now, you need to sleep, okay?” Joe asks, trying to get through to him.

          “Ugh, fine! If it’ll calm you down, I’ll sleep.” Barry sighs, walking down to his room as he slowly closes the door. After that, he changes into his underwear, slowly crawling into bed as he goes to sleep. They were right, though. He was feeling awfully tired. Once Barry goes to bed, Joe, Iris, and Wally decide to talk.

          “Did he seem off to any of you, or is it just me?” Joe asks.

          “No, it’s not just you. I spilled my tea cup earlier, and he caught it before it even hit the ground.” Wally answers.

          “Seriously? Barry isn’t that agile. How could he possibly have done that?” Iris asks.

          “Barry did say that they wanted to run tests on him. What if they did experiments on him when he was in a coma?” Joe asks.

          “Come on dad, do you really believe that? Barry was just in shock. He wasn’t thinking rationally.” Wally scoffs.

“How do you _know_ that Wally? We weren’t watching him twenty-four-seven. They could have done experiments on him when we weren’t there to witness it.” Iris demands.

          “Okay, even if they did, they still saved Barry’s life.” Wally reminds them.

          “There has to be some sort of proof. Their place is covered in computers. Surely something must be on there.” Joe states.

          “What are you going to do? They’re not going to just let you browse their computers.” Iris asks.

          “Easy, I’m going to get our neighbor to hack them.” Joe answers.

  
  


 

 

 

 

 


	4. Pilot, Part 4

          When Barry falls asleep, his dream takes place in his old house. _Little Barry woke to see the water in his fish tank floating in the air. In the background, he could hear yelling, and that’s when he decides to walk downstairs._

_“Nora! Nora!” Henry’s voice calls. He was sitting on the floor, and a trail of red and yellow lightning was twirling around him._

_“Dad! Dad!” Little Barry calls._

_“Barry, don’t!” His dad calls, motioning for him to stop._

_“Get back!” Henry warns._

_“Dad!” Little Barry calls, crying out in fear._

_“Dad!” He calls, sobbing now. Henry screams._

_“Dad!” Barry cries. Suddenly Nora was in front of her son._

_“Stay back!” She shouts._

_“Henry, hold on!” Nora pleads._

_“Run, Barry. Run!” Nora calls, pushing her son._

Barry starts thrashing around in his sleep, trapped in a nightmare. He’s had this same nightmare ever since that fateful day on his eleventh birthday. Since then, his dreams taunted him with the same memory, every single night. Barry can’t even remember the last time his dreams weren’t plagued with nightmares. Eventually, he starts screaming.

          Wally was in his room when he heard it: Barry was screaming in his sleep. Within seconds he gets up from the bed, running into Barry’s room. When he gets there, Barry is thrashing against the bed, screaming at the top of his lungs.

          “Barry!” He calls, running to his side as quickly as he can.

          “Barry! Come on, wake up! Wake up man!” Wally pleads. Barry doesn’t seem to hear him, though, as he was still thrashing around, and that’s when Wally grabs his shoulders, shaking him as hard as he can.

          “Barry, come on! Wake up! _Wake up_ man! _Please_!” Wally pleads. When Barry finally wakes up, he’s gasping for air, hands gripping the sheets as hard as he can. His heart was still pounding from the nightmare.

          “Hey, hey. You’re okay, you’re okay now. You’re safe. Breathe, okay? Just breathe.” Wally calls, making sure to speak in a softer tone. Finally, Barry opens his eyes to see Wally’s face looking up at him.

          “I take it I was screaming in my sleep?” He asks, slowly sitting up.

          “Yeah, you were. You scared me, you know? I couldn’t get you to wake up.” Wally admits.

          “What time is it?” Barry asks, yawning.

          “A little after three in the morning.” Wally answers.

          “Can you… can you sleep in the bed with me, like you used to do when we were little?” Barry asks.

          “Yeah, I can do that, scoot over.” Wally orders, watching as Barry goes to the other side of the bed. After crawling in the bed next to Barry, he covers them both, turning on the night light on the wall.

          “Better?” Wally asks.

          “Mm.” Barry replies, his breathing slowing down as he starts to doze off. Wally puts his head on the pillow, slowly closing his eyes as he falls asleep. Barry sleeps peacefully the rest of the night, much to Wally’s relief. Wally wakes up around ten the next morning to see that Barry was still asleep, at least he hopes he’s asleep. He’s awfully still this morning.

After climbing out from his side of the bed, he slowly walks over to Barry, placing his fingers under his neck as he checked for a pulse. To his relief, Barry’s pulse was there. It was fast, but it was there. Wally covers Barry with the blanket, and that’s when he slowly walks into the living room, sitting on the couch.

“Morning Wally! Did you sleep okay?” Iris calls from the kitchen. She was currently cooking everyone some breakfast.

“I did, but I had to wake Barry up from a nightmare. He’s sleeping fine now, though.” Wally answers.

          “Alright, well, let’s let him sleep. We’ll wake him up later.” Iris states. It was a couple minutes later when Joe walks in the room.

“Morning.” Joe greets.

          “Morning. Did you sleep okay?” Wally asks.

          “Yeah. Did you?” Joe asks, sitting on the couch.

          “Yeah. I had to wake Barry up from a nightmare, but he’s sleeping okay now.” Wally answers.

“Did you find anything on Star Labs?” Iris asks, walking in the room as she places their breakfast on the table.

“Yeah, our neighbor gave my laptop access to Star Lab’s files, but I haven’t accessed them yet.” Joe answers.

“Do you think we should ask Barry first? He might want to see them.” Wally asks.

“I think we should see them ourselves first, before showing them to Barry. He was pretty upset at the idea of possibly being experimented on, let’s wait until we know what we’re going to see.” Iris answers. Meanwhile, Barry had just woken up, and had found Joe’s laptop. It takes Barry all of two minutes to figure out his password, and that’s when he sees a file on his laptop labeled Star Labs. Curious as to what it contains, he clicks on it, and that’s when his eyes widened. Joe had files of Star Lab's security cameras from the nine months that he was in a coma. After plugging in his headphones, Barry clicks on the first file, which was dated the day that he was brought in. Slowly, the footage began to play.

_“Um Randolf? Who is this, and why was he brought here, to our medical lab?” A man asks. Barry winces when he sees the condition he was in. He was hooked up to a hell of a lot of machines._

_“Well Mr. Ramon, this is Barry Allen. He got struck by lightning, and I promised his family that I’d save him.” The other man, presumably Randolf answers. Another man walks in, and that’s when Barry recognizes him. That was Harrison Wells, that famous novelist._

_“Hey Rando. Who’s this?” He asks. He still doesn’t know the other man’s name._

_“This is Barry. He got struck by lightning, and we promised his family that we’d save him.” The unknown man answers._

_“Well then, we’d better get to work, eh Rando?” Harrison chuckles._

_“How many times do I have to tell you? My name is Randolf, not Rando.” Randolf sighs._

_“I know that, but that’s what I like to call you.” Harrison chuckles. Randolf rolls his eyes, and that’s when the footage cuts off._

 

 

 


	5. Pilot, Part 5

          Barry continues to look through the footage. He doesn’t know what he expects to find, but there had to be some explanation for what happened earlier. The next clip was from about a week later, so he hits play.

_Barry was currently lying against the cot, hooked up to God knows how many machines. Randolf was currently sitting next to him, hand holding a pen as he starts writing on a paper attached to a clipboard._

_“The patient is showing signs of Tachycardia. Brain activity is almost nonexistent.” Randolf speaks, writing his findings on the paper._

_“Hey, his name is Barry. Stop calling him “the patient”.” Dante scolds._

_“Why? He’s comatose Ramon, it’s not like he’s going to know.” Randolf scoffs._

_“Because it’s rude? He’s a human being Randolf! He deserves to be treated that way!” Dante snaps._

The footage cuts off after that, and that’s when Barry clicks the next file. This file was from about a month later.

 _“Barry is showing small signs of brain activity. His muscles should be atrophied, but instead they’re in a chronic and an unexplained state of cellular regeneration. Blood results appear to be normal.” Randolf speaks to the camera._ Barry’s eyes widened at that statement. _They drew my blood while I was in a coma? What else have they done?_ The next file was about three months later, which means that it was the fourth month that he was in his coma.

_Barry was alone in this footage. Dante was the only person in the room this time._

_“Hey Barry. So, you’ve been here for four months. Randolf says me talking to you is a waste of time, but I don’t believe that. I think you can hear me, despite what he says. I hope you don’t mind, but I checked your Facebook wall. You like Radioactive, I like that song too. Your family comes in here a lot. They seem nice. My brother and I don’t really get along too much. He thinks that anything but his precious football is a waste of time. Well, I beg to differ Cisco.” Dante speaks._ The footage cuts off after that. The next file was from about three weeks later.

          _Barry was attached to far less machines now. The oxygen mask that was around his lips was gone now, which means that he must have been breathing on his own at this point. Harrison Wells was in the footage, this time. Come to think of it, where was he in the other files? He never seems to be there, so where the hell was he in all that time?_

_“So, I got you this book. I know you can’t read it right now, so I’ll read it to you. I hope you like science-fiction, because it’s the only genre that Dante has.” HR speaks. The book that he was reading from was called The Time Machine, and it was written by H.G. Wells._

The footage ends on him reading from that book to Barry, so he goes to the next file. This file was five months in, and there was still no evidence of experimentation.

          _Barry’s cot was against the wall now, sunlight coming through the windows. Iris, Wally, and Joe were sitting in the room. Wally looked like he had been up for most of the night. Iris was sleeping in the chair, and Joe was sitting there, nervously biting his fingernails._

_“It’s been five months, and he still hasn’t woken up yet.” Wally sighs._

_“I know Wally, but they said that it could take some time for Barry to come back to us.” Joe sighs._

_“Take some time? Dad, it’s been five months. How much longer is he going to be like this?” Wally demands._

_“Wally, I don’t know. I’m sorry, but I don’t.” Joe sighs._

The footage cuts off after that, and Barry clicks another file. This clip was from six months later.

 _“Whoa, oh, oh_  
_Whoa, oh, oh_  
 _Whoa, oh, oh_  
 _Whoa_  
  
_I'm waking up to ash and dust_  
 _I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust_  
 _I'm breathing in the chemicals_

  
 _I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus_  
 _This is it, the apocalypse_  
 _Whoa oh_  
  
_I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones_  
 _Enough to make my system blow_  
 _Welcome to the new age, to the new age_  
 _Welcome to the new age, to the new age_  
 _Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive_  
 _Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive” Dante sings to the camera. This was the first time that Barry had ever heard him sing, and he had to admit, the man did have a nice voice. It’s a pity that his brother was so mean to him about it._

The footage cuts off after that, so he clicks on the next clip. This clip was about seven months later.

          _Barry was attached to even less machines now. The only ones being the brain activity monitor, his breathing, his blood, and his heart. Randolf was in the room now, and he looked worried._

_“I just don’t understand why he isn’t waking up. I ran tests on what I could, and they all say that he should be awake, and he’s not.” Randolf sighs._

Barry nearly dropped Joe’s computer upon seeing that. _Oh my God, they did run tests on me!_  Barry closes the computer after that, and that’s when he runs outside the house. Before he knew it, he was running at speeds that weren’t humanely possible. When he realizes how fast he was running, Barry screams at the top of his lungs, in fear. _Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God. What’s happening to me? Someone please tell me what’s going on._ He thinks. Eventually, he finds himself standing outside Star Labs, and that’s when he realizes something, the clothes that he had changed into were now on fire.

          “Holy shit!” He shrieks, taking off as much as he can as he tries to get the fire out. Now that he wasn’t on fire anymore, he storms into Star Labs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, Radioactive is owned by Imagine Dragons.


End file.
